The sponsor paying the tab for Gov. Rick Perry's just-announced Aug. 6 "Day of Prayer and Fasting" is a controversial anti-gay group whose president told The Texas Tribune on Tuesday that non-Christians will "go to hell" unless they accept Jesus Christ as their savior. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/7a10bb8a036a8c9db3cb88695ebcdb2b/BD%20INC%20Perry%20Prays%2001%202011)
Your afternoon reading: Perry adds sanctuary cities to special-session agenda; House Democratic leader fined; the politics (or not) of the governor's prayer event Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/0484914b5b045638621ed091f870cd03/BD%20INC%20Perry%20CCMS%202011)
Gov. Rick Perry has added controversial immigration and homeland security measures to the agenda for the special legislative session that began last week. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/c088a4290c67bad3bfe286cb75ce0771/BD%20INC%20HB12%2002%202011)
Officials at the Texas Commission on Jail Standards and the Gregg County Sheriff's Office confirmed today that 30-year-old Micah Aaron Garner died at the Longview lockup on Monday night. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/e6192f23e25477079043e3d2444b00d6/.BD%20Jail)
Tuesday's contentious debate on the state Senate floor over a proposed congressional redistricting map, which passed on a party line vote, was just a hint of why graduate students at Texas A&M University — and even some lawmakers — are studying alternative ways to handle the process. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Redistrict_by_Students_1.jpg)
Republicans warned Democrats they'd regret forcing a special session. On Monday, Democrats got another taste of that. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/b3d91c50204346d5d9123cd40cd4f26c/BD%20INC%20Shapiro%2001-03%202011)
The Legislature passed a handful of energy-saving measures this session, ranging from allowing churches access to an energy-efficiency loan program to recalibrating a statewide efficiency program. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/SolarPanels_0000_Layer_2.jpg)
Talk of lifting the state's student-teacher class-size ratio has returned after a bill on the matter died in May. As Mose Buchele of KUT News reports, though some say debate on the issue has downplayed the potential harm for students, others call the worries overblown. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/EmptyDesks_ClassSize.jpg)
A bill recently signed into law gives law enforcement agencies and lawyers more power to fight wage theft, to which illegal immigrants often fall victim. As Erika Aguilar of KUT News reports, even in a session dominated by efforts to enact strict immigration legislation, the bill met little resistance. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TxTrib_ConstructionWorkers.jpg)
Former Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams, who has been running a GOP primary campaign to succeed Kay Bailey Hutchison in the U.S. Senate, has begun actively soliciting endorsements for the congressional seat he intends to seek instead, according to an email obtained Monday night by the Tribune. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/8617d0a602938cae4464ee6731989081/BD%20INC%20Williams%2021%202011)
A new redistricting map, drawn to promote and protect Republican interests in the U.S. Congress, sailed out of the GOP-led state Senate Monday. The map, approved along strict party lines, would give Republicans a decent chance of retaining every congressional seat they now hold plus a new one they don't. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/43c94e57ba364bfc6dcbf36511c86b4e/BD%20INC%20Selinger%2001%202011)
Teachers and parents gathered today at the state Capitol to protest budget cuts to education funding. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/teacherrally.jpg)
Gov. Rick Perry, who’s eying a possible run for the White House, released a proclamation Monday declaring Aug. 6 a “Day of Prayer and Fasting for our Nation’s Challenges." Perry plans to give up food on the day of the event, which is being paid for by the American Family Association. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/_KCB0198.jpg)
Data journalism guru Matt Stiles may have left the building but Ryan Murphy and Becca Aaronson will be keeping the tradition and spirit of @stiles alive by continuing to update the data blog On the Records and the @TribData Twitter account. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/datapps-graphic.jpg)
Your afternoon reading: Ron Paul raises $1 million in anti-"RomneyCare" moneybomb; Kansas governor confirms attendance at Perry prayer event; education protests continue Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Ron-Paul-Shaking-Hands-After-Speech.jpg)
If Gov. Rick Perry's gunning for conservatives ahead of a presidential run, he's not holding back. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/7cbd6ef79f4d459c905e61278b0c8e8b/DO%20NOT%20USE%20Perry%20Prays%20for%20Rain%202011)
For the latest installment of our unscientific survey of political and policy insiders, we asked some questions about the special session, who benefits, how long it will last and whether a certain Fort Worth senator has helped or hurt her political future. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/inside_intelligence-logo_1.png){kind=logo}
If you wanted to know where the governor, the lieutenant governor and the speaker of the House would stand at the end of the legislative session, you could have seen it all months ago. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/9a35300edf588ad8e790dd0d2f4043e3/BD%20INC%20Trio%2002%202011)
During the regular session, Gov. Rick Perry’s top legislative priority for higher education was the implementation of a new financing system that rewards universities for graduating more students, not just for getting students into classes. Why didn't that happen? Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/f3e6b03ac6a0ff45fa9a94b23393a022/BD%20INC%20Paredes%2001%202011)
The Legislature finished on Monday and came back on Tuesday to do in a few days what they could not accomplish in 140 Full Story